Micrometer device for operating the movable straightedge of a line-up table and the like



Dec. 19, 1961 c. N. BREWER ETAL 3,013,

MICROMETER DEVICE FOR OPERATING THE MOVABLE STRAIGHTEDGE OF A LINE-UPTABLE AND THE LIKE Original Filed Aug. 8, 1957 BY idfmwww ATTORNEYS Thisapplication is a division of our co-pending applica tion Serial No.677,001, filed August 8, 1957, now Patent No. 2,942,351 granted June 28,1960, for Micrometer Device for Operating the Movable Straightedge of aLine-up Table, and the Like.

This invention relates broadly to the printing art and, moreparticularly, relates to so-called line-up or register tables which areused in performing such make-up operations as lining, ruling, scoringnegatives and the like.

In United States Letters Patent Nos. 2,252,535 and 2,- 421,686 there aredisclosed line-up tables of the type to which the invention relates andwith respect to which this invention constitutes an improvement. Inthese tables there is provided a straightedge which is mounted formovement from end to end of the work surface of the table and which isused in drawing parallel lines extending transversely of the sheet ofpaper or other material laid on the work surface. Because of therequirements of the printing art the spacing of the lines made with thestraightedge is of extreme importance and must be accurate to very closetolerances which are measured in thousandths of an inch. In line-uptables now known to the art the straightedge is moved by rotating ashaft through a Vernier adjustment causing operation of the means whichmoves the straightedge. It has been found that this known means formoving the straightedge may not be operated to produce the very fine andaccurate adjustment of the straightedge to thousandths of an inch, as isrequired for such purposes as compensation for expansion or shrinkage ofthe plates from which the lined paper or the material is printed.

Our invention has to do with the operation of the straightedge ofline-up tables of the type and construction described and has had forits principal object the provision of means for operating thestraightedge through increments, and to the accuracy, of thousandths ofan inch, and for successively moving the straightedge through exactlythe same distance with rapidity and un-varying and absolute accuracy forany number of successive times, thus greatly improving the usefulness ofsuch tables and their operation.

An embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspecification and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional View taken on line 11 of FIGURE 2., showingthe device in operative relation to parts of a line-up table;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a device according to theinvention with parts broken away, and

FIG. 3 is a view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1, showing the parts of theframe in open, gear-disengaged position.

This invention provides means for operating the movable carriage of aline-up table of this type, construction States Patent 3,013,339Patented Dec. 19, 1961 and purpose described in the Letters Patentreferred to hereinbefore, and which tables are now commerciallyavailable. Parts of such a table are shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings andcomprise a work table 2, having a flat upper surface 4- on which apaper, mat or other device or sheet is to be laidfor the purpose ofdrawing thereon a plurality of parallel lines equally spaced apart by adistance which must, be exact to the thousandth of an inch.Thestraightedge 6 against which the lines are drawn forms part of acarriage 8 which is mounted for movement along the table and which alsoincludes a shaft 10 which is adjacent the straightedge and parallel toit. The carriage is moved along the table by suitable and known means,such as a rack and pinion device, and such movement may be efiected byrotating a shaft 12, to one end of which is attached a knob 14. AVernier device 16 is usually provided for adjusting the amount ofmovement of the carriage. It will be understood that the shaft 12, knob14, Vernier 16 and the parts operated thereby are mounted on thecarriage and move with it along the work surface. As stated, theoperation of the carriage by means of the knob 14 and shaft 12, with theuse of the Vernier 16, cannot be performed with the required accuracy,but permit only the accurate movement of the carriage to tenone-thousandths of an inch. In a typical line-up table one completerotation of knob 14 and shaft 12 produces a two inch movement of thecarriage 8 and straightedge 6 along the work surface of the table andthe invention will be described in this specification as applied to sucha table, although it will be understood that the invention is notlimited to any specific relation between a complete rotation of theshaft and knob and the distance of movement of the carriage andstraightedge along the work surface.

Means are provided by the invention for quickly and accurately movingthe straightedge 6 and other parts of the carriage any number ofsuccessive times through any desired distance and with accuracy toone-thousandth of an inch. In the embodiments of the invention disclosedin this specification there is provided a two-part frame, one part ofwhich is formed by a lower plate 23 having attached thereto a fitting 22which surrounds and is fastened to the shaft 10 of the carriage 8,whereby the device provided by the invention is mounted on the carriageand moves therewith. The second part of the frame is formed by an upperplate 23 which is pivotally connected at its one side, as at 26, to oneside of plate 20 adjacent the upper part thereof. Adjacent its otherside the plate 20 is provided with an elongated, curved slot or recess25 having closed ends, which receives a pin or screw 24 which is mountedon plate 23. Clamping means, having handles 27, 28, are associated withthe pins 24, 26 for locking the plate 23 in open or closed position withrespect to plate 20.

A shaft 50 is rotatably journaled in the lower plate 20 of the frame anda relatively large gear 54 having external gear teeth on its peripheryis fixedly attached to shaft 50' for rotation therewith. The shaft St)is preferably axially aligned with the operating shaft 12. of theline-up table carriage and is connected thereto by a coupling 56 whichprevents binding when the shaft 12 is rotated by the gear 54 and shaft50, and an adapter device 58 is attached to the knob 14 and has a shaft60 which is attached to one side of the coupling device 56.

A second shaft 200 is journaled in the upper frame part 23 and isparallel to, and spaced from, shaft 50. A gear '74, which is smallrelatively to gear 54, is fixed to shaft 200 and has external teethwhich mesh with those of gear 54 when the frame parts 20, 23 are inclosed position. Shaft 200 has fixed to it by screws 202 a relativelylarger dial or disc 204 and a knob 206 which is attached to the shaft bya set-screw 208. Dial 204- has an annular series of graduations 210 onits outer face adjacent its periphery and, in the disclosed embodimentand with the specifications and relation of parts described hereinafterthese graduations extend from to 250. A second dial or disc 220 ismounted on shaft 200 in front of the front surface of dial 204 and ismounted on the shaft that it may rotate with respect to the shaft andthe dial 204. An annular series of graduations 221 is marked on dial 220adjacent the periphery thereof and extends in reverse order to theseries of graduations 210 and, in the disclosed embodiment, this seriesextends from 0 to 250. Dial 220 has a cylindrical knob 222concentrically attached to its front surface in surrounding relation tothe knob 206 on shaft 200 and a series of gradautions 224 may be markedon the outer cylindrical surface of this knob and will correspond innumber and position to the peripheral series on the front surface ofdial 220. A felt disc 230 surrounds shaft 200 and it is positionedbetween dials 204 and 220 and is in face-to-face engagement with both ofthem. A pressure plate 232 surrounds the shaft 200 Within the knob 222in front of dial 220 and is separated from the dial by a felt disc 233.The pressure plate is constantly urged into engagement with the frontsurface of the felt disc 233 by a spring 234 which surrounds shaft 200and bears at its one end on plate 232 and at its other end on the innersurface of knob 206, thus holding dials 204 and 220, pressure plate 232and the intermediate felt discs in frictional engagement. A pointer 240is connected at its lower end to the upper frame part 23 and extendsupwardly therefrom behind dial 204 and at its upper end is turnedoutwardly and downwardly across the outer peripheral parts of dials 20i, 220, to provide an indicating edge 242 which is positioned adjacentthe series of graduations on the two dials.

As stated, the operating means for the carriage and straightedge of theline-up table may be so constructed that one complete revolution of theoperating shaft 12 produces a two-inch movement of the carriage andstraightedge. If this relationship exists, the operating device providedby the present invention may, if desired, be constructed in thefollowing manner. The relatively large gear 54 may have eight times thenumber of teeth of the relatively small gear 74 and, in a preferredembodiment, the larger gear will have 96 teeth and the smaller gear willhave 12 teeth. The periphery of dial 204 will have 250 graduations andthe periphery of dial 220 will have the same number of graduationsarranged reversely to those on dial 204. It will be seen that thefollowing relations will result from these specifications:

1 rotation of shaft 12 causes 2 inches of carriage movement.

1 rotation of dial 204 causes 1 rotation of small gear 74.

1 rotation of dial 204 causes Vs rotation of large gear 54.

8 rotations of dial 204 cause 1 rotation of large gear 54.

8 rotations of dial 204 cause 2 inches of carriage movement.

4 rotations of dial 204 cause 1 inch of carriage movement.

1000 dial division movements cause 1 inch of carriage movement.

1 dial division movement causes .001 inch of carriage movement.

In the use and operation of the invention, the operating device ismounted on the carriage 8 by assembling the fitting 22 to the carriageshaft 10 and by connecting the adapter 58 to the knob 14 of theoperating shaft 12. The two parts 20, 23 of the frame are now separatedby moving the part 23 about its pivotal connection to part 20, thusmoving gear 74 out of mesh with gear 54. Both dials 204 and 220 are nowseparately rotated by their respective knobs until the zero indicationon both dials is opposite the indicator edge 242. If it is assumed thatparallel lines .160 inch apart are to be drawn on a sheet on worksurface 4 the smaller or front dial 220 is turned in a counterclockwisedirection by its knob 222 until the mark on its scale registers with theindicator edge 242. It will be seen that this rotation of dial 220 willnot turn shaft 200 or dial 204 or the gears 74, 54 or the operatingshaft 12 of the carriage S, as dial 220 is not connected to shaft 200.When the described rotation of dial 220 has been made the knob 206 isrotated in a clockwise direction until the zero graduation on dial 220registers with the indicator edge 242. This rotation of knob 206 willcause the same rotation of dial 204, shaft 200, gear 74, gear 54 andcarriage operating shaft 12, thus producing a carriage and straightedgemovement of .160 inch. The same carriage movement may be repeated anynumber of times by rotating the dial 220 in a counter-clockwisedirection to the position in which its 160 mark registers with theindicator edge 242, without rotating the dial 204 at all, and thenrotating both dials in the opposite direction until the zero graduationon dial 220 registers with the indicator edge 242.

The dial 204 indicates in thousandths of an inch any movement of thecarriage or straightedge. Thus, if it should be desired or necessary todraw two lines .010 inch apart and then another pair of such spacedlines after an interval of .160 inch, the dial 204 would be used toproduce the .010 inch spacing of the lines of each pair and the dial 220would be used to produce the spacing between pairs of lines.

While we have described and illlustrated one embodiment of ourinvention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the arts to which theinvention relates that other embodiments, as well as modifications ofthat disclosed, may be made and practised without departing in any wayfrom the spirit or scope of the invention, for the limits of whichreference must be made to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for turning the operating shaft of a line-up table to impartmovement to a movable straightedge forming part of such table and whichis adapted and intended to be moved upon rotation of the shaft toparallel positions along which lines may be drawn, comprising arelatively large rotatable gear, means for connecting said gear to theoperating shaft of a line-up table, a relatively small rotatable gearmeshed with the first gear, a rotatably mounted circular dial havinggraduations marked about its periphery, means connecting the dial to therelatively small gear to cause rotation of said gear upon rotation ofthe dial, a second dial mounted adjacent and concentrically with thefirst dial for rotation with respect thereto and having graduationsmarked about its periphery corresponding to those on the first dial butin reverse order, and means urging said dials into frictional engagementwith each other whereby the second dial may be rotated independently ofthe first dial or, alternatively, may be rotated with the first dial torotate the two gears.

2. A device according to claim 1 comprising, in addition, an indicatormounted adjacent the peripheries of the dials and fixed with respectthereto.

3. A device for turning the operating shaft of a line-up table to impartmovement to a movable straightedge forming part of such table and whichis adapted and intended to be moved upon rotation of the shaftcomprising a frame, a relatively large gear rotatably mounted on theframe, means for connecting the gear to the operating shaft of a line-uptable, a shaft rotatably mounted in the frame, a relatively small gearfixed to said shaft and meshed with said relatively large gear, a dialfixed to said shaft and having graduations marked on its periphery, asecond dial 6 mounted on said shaft for rotational movement withreengaging the first and second dials, and means urging the spect to theshaft and the first dial and having graduations second dial and thefriction member toward the first dial. marked on its periphery whichcorrespond in number to those on the first dial but are in reverseorder, and means References Cited in the file of this patent whereby thesecond dial may be rotated independently of 5 the first dial and theshaft or, alternatively, with the first UNITED STATES PATENTS dial andthe shaft. 1,760,938 Edgar June 3, 1930 4. A device according to claim3, in which the last 2,421,686 Dodge June 3, 1947 named means comprisesa friction member between and 2,743,699 Hollis May 1, 1956

